University Dynasties: Three Generation of Spiridonov Family Choose SUSU

This year, South Ural State University celebrates its 75th anniversary. The university’s history is a series of sequentially replacing each other stages of establishment and dynamic development. One of the amazing factors of its development is the existence of university dynasties. One of such stellar dynasties is Spiridonov family. Its outstanding representative, the founder of the scientific school, Head of the SUSU Department of Hydraulics and Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems, Professor Evgeniy Konstantinovich Spiridonov in his time invented original vacuum-pumping systems, which have been implemented at many power stations of the Ural region.

The post-war generation

Konstantin Mikhailovich Spiridonov, the Head of the dynasty, was born on June 1 of 1920. In 1945 he came to Chelyabinsk and started working at the Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture (today the South Ural State Agrarian University) at the Department of Graphics. For more than 25 years, Konstantin Mikhailovich had been Head of the Department of Graphics of the Chelyabinsk Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture.

“My father was friends with the Head of the Department of Graphics of the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute (this was the name of SUSU back then), Nikolay Pavlovich Sennikov. As there were not enough lecturers, my father taught at the CPI as well,” says Evgeniy Spiridonov, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor, Head of the SUSU Department of Hydraulics and Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems.

Konstantin Mikhailovich’s wife, Kaleria Ivanovna Spiridonova, was also working at the Department of Graphics at the CPI. She read a course of lectures on descriptive geometry and technical drawing, and took an active part in the Department’s work: in methodological, research and educational activities.

Photo: Konstantin Mikhailovich and Kaleria Ivanovna Spiridonov

Hydraulics as a bridge between the space and water

Konstantin Mikhailovich’s and Kaleria Ivanovna’s son, Evgeniy Spiridonov, in 1966 graduated from School No.1 named after Engels with excellent grades, and entered CPI’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering to the specialty of Hydraulic Drive and Hydraulics and Pneumatics.

“As a child I wanted to become a ship builder. We used to construct models of ships with my friends when playing outdoors. Then we sailed these ships in quarries of the Gagarin Central Park of Culture and Recreation, and even equipped them with cannons. We had an entire fleet. But as we didn’t have a ship-building class in our city, I attended classes of aviation design at the Chelyabinsk Palace of Pioneers. The sky has always greatly impressed me. In 1957, the first satellite was sent to space, and in 1961 Yury Gagarin, the first one in the humankind, went into space. And it was an unforgettable impression! You can say, I have always been between marine ships and space ships.”

The rapid development of hydraulic engineering, thermal and power engineering, hydraulic machinery construction, aircraft and space engineering in the 20th century resulted in an intensive development of hydraulics and hydraulic systems. Evgeniy Konstantinovich had chosen his future profession because it was in-demand at both defense enterprises and at enterprises of aircraft and mechanical engineering.

“I got very lucky with my lecturers; the majority of them were true teachers and scientists. Lecturers as well as students actively carried out research activities. Back then, the sphere of pneumonics was becoming popular, and I got very interested in the subject. Pneumonics are elements of jet automatic devices, on the basis of which logic elements of computers and control devices can be constructed, therefore the topic of my research papers was jet, multi-phase and non-stationary flows and devices built on their basis.”

Jet devices (jet pumps, mixers, ejectors) nowadays are widely used in power engineering and in chemical, petroleum and gas industries. Evgeniy Spiridonov obtained 20 patents for jet devices and systems. Evgeniy Konstantinovich invented original vacuum-pumping systems which have been implemented at many power stations of the Ural region, for example, at the Karmanovskaya Regional Hydro-Electric Power Plant in Bashkiriya, and at Iriklinskaya Regional Hydro-Electric Power Plant in the Orenburg region.

“We are working with implementation of jet automatic devices’ elements in construction of pumps and develop hydraulic machines of a new type, for example, we can construct pumps with non-poppet distribution with the use of hydraulic diodes. Today pneumonics is experiencing its another upsurge, because operating processes in this sphere are based on the phenomena taking places with the air flow in various channels and not on electric phenomena. In places with strong radiation of high explosion hazard, such elements are much more preferable as they are much safer.”

Under supervision of Evgeniy Spiridonov, a Scientific School for research in this area was established at the Department of Hydraulics and Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems of SUSU’s Polytechnic Institute. 6 Candidate’s dissertations have already been defended, and two more are in the preparation process. Scientists of the Department obtained new data on multi-phase jet devices; they also conduct research of cavitation phenomena.

Family harmony thank to the university

Aside from successful career, the university helped Evgeniy Spiridonov to organize his family life. The future wife of Evgeniy Konstantinovich studied at the same time that he did, but at the CPI’s Instrument Engineering Faculty.

“At the New Year’s Eve, there were often dances, and as a rule, the two Faculties participated together. Our Faculty was celebrating together with the Instrument Engineering Faculty, and that is when I got the opportunity to get acquainted with Nadezhda, whom I noticed even earlier at the institute’s library where all students were getting prepared for classes.”

Nadezhda Spiridonova, having graduated from the Instrument Engineering Faculty in the specialty of Informational and Measuring Equipment, started working at the Polet company. In 1984, she changed the place of work and got employed to the SUSU Computing Center, where she is still working as Head of the Department of Technical Support.

The daughter of Evgeniy Konstantinovich and Nadezhda Alekseevna, Tatiana Meshkova, also chose SUSU and, having graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology, started working at the Department of Accounting and Finance of the Faculty of Economics and Trade. Nowadays she is an Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Theory, Regional Economics, State and Municipal Management at the SUSU School of Economics and Management and reads lectures on microeconomics, macroeconomics, world economy, etc. Tatiana Evgenyevna supervises students’ research works and graduation qualification papers, and regularly participates in organizing and holding of the Department’s events.

Olga Romanovskaya; photo by: Viktoria Matveychuk, collection of Spiridonov family
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